anyone ever pay off cruise BEFORE final payment?

[Desert Cruizers]

I generally pay our cruises off 2 to 3 months before the final date, then its overwith, the Credit Card bill will come and in and thats paid before we leave, then it free for the onboard charges. I could ahyve our Oct 2011 TA paid off by April or sooner if I wanted, Due date isn't until Aug 2011, as I have been putting $250/month since booking.

[cruiser-007]

Interesting topic. We use our tax return to buy a vacation so the money is available right away. However, we just do the required down payment, then pay the rest when required. With work and stuff, just don't want to complicate things should we have to cancel.:)

[Flacruiser123]

I don't book a cruise unless I already have the money in savings/money market. I let it gain interest there, use my RCI cc to pay for it when it is within days of it being due, then transfer funds from the savings/moneymarket, when the RCI bill comes in earning double points.:D

 

RCI keeps changing their policies - makes me nervous about giving them all my money. I do like to book ahead at least a year in advance but I am rethinking this - due to their new policies.

[pcur]

I pay every single one of my cruises off early. I use the price to bump up my Southwest credits for free airfare to/from the port. So, I pay when I need to get those credits in my account, sometimes 6 months before the cruise if we are sailing at a popular time and the seats may be hard to get with a SW award. Last year I paid off THREE cruises at one time to get the awards: we had family to fly into FLL, so I needed more awards.

 

There is no risk at all. RCCL has always been terrific about getting cancellation refunds done very quickly. I've been doing business with them for 37 years. Pay the cruise off so you can concentrate on budgeting for the extras.

 

Also, I'm in agreement about the interest: it's so low now that a few bucks less to have free airfare is worth it.

[kuddles14]

My husband and I go back and forth on this all the time. He wants me to put the money in the savings account and keep the little bit of interest. I like to pay on the cruise a little each pay period. I like the peace of mind that comes with a paid off cruise and not having to take it out of the savings account. This way if there is an emergency or large purchase that is necessary, our vacation is not affected by it and I am not scrambling at the last minute to pay it off or even better miss the final payment date. :eek:

[read52]

Yes, this year we decided to use our tax returns for our two cruises because our daughter was getting married this year. So when I got the return I paid them both off. The RC was in the summer so when there was a price drop I got it as an OBC which gave us $400 to use. We were cruising right after the wedding so the OBC came in handy.

[sunshine 229]

I've paid a cruise off a few months before final payment, when the exchange between Canadian dollars and US dollars was at a favourable rate for me. That way I know where I stand and have the piece of mind that I won't get caught in a sudden upswing in the exchange rates.

 

I admit I'd be hesitant to pay it all off way in advance, even though I understand that you can still get a full credit if you have to cancel before final payment. The way the cruiselines seem to keep shifting their policies re-price drops and other things I'd generally prefer to keep the money in my own hands until at least close to final payment date.

[Ocean Boy]

My husband and I go back and forth on this all the time. He wants me to put the money in the savings account and keep the little bit of interest. I like to pay on the cruise a little each pay period. I like the peace of mind that comes with a paid off cruise and not having to take it out of the savings account. This way if there is an emergency or large purchase that is necessary, our vacation is not affected by it and I am not scrambling at the last minute to pay it off or even better miss the final payment date. :eek:

 

First of all it makes no difference to me how anyone else pays off their vacations. But it would seem to me that if an emergency came up, or a large purchase was necessary, I might want to have the funds to take care of that and forget the vacation if necessary. And I really don't see the issue with putting payments into a savings account and then withdrawing it to pay off the cruise. How is paying into a savings account and then taking the money out somehow worse than making periodic payments to RCI?:confused:

[RevSmith]

Yes, many, many times. As a matter of fact I just paid off my back to back on Oasis yesterday....

rev

[momandaugher]

I agree with Blue46. My October Eastern Carib. cruise is totally paid for. Now I can focus on booking my excursions without having to pinch pennies for a budget. If you can afford to do it, pay ahead.;)

[kuddles14]

First of all it makes no difference to me how anyone else pays off their vacations. But it would seem to me that if an emergency came up, or a large purchase was necessary, I might want to have the funds to take care of that and forget the vacation if necessary. And I really don't see the issue with putting payments into a savings account and then withdrawing it to pay off the cruise. How is paying into a savings account and then taking the money out somehow worse than making periodic payments to RCI?:confused:

It's not worse than making periodic payments to RCI. Just don't want to make withdrawals for frivolous (sorry spelling) things and then realize I don't have it. I actually have a jar where I put in all our spare change at the end of the day, extra monies at the end of a pay period and whatever I budget. I then take it to another bank which is not my primary bank and put it in a savings account there. I still like to put a little at a time on the trip. Just my personal preference.

[kuddles14]

I agree with Blue46. My October Eastern Carib. cruise is totally paid for. Now I can focus on booking my excursions without having to pinch pennies for a budget. If you can afford to do it, pay ahead.;)

I agree with both of you!!! After it's paid off, I also like to focus on other things without having to pinch pennies.

[AFS1970]

I don't remember if I payed my first cruise off early but I probably did by a month or so. For #2, I probably will, but only because the money is already in a savings account that will pay for it. That's why we decided to go on a cruise.

 

That being said, it will not get paid in a lump sum, for two reasons. Yes, I do not like the idea of giving a cruise line (or anyone else) an interest free loan, but more so so that I can continue to establish a payment history, to help lower my credit score, which my banker tells me will help with eventually refinancing my mortgage.

[islahopper]

We always pay for the whole cruise when we book. Like to get it out of the way and not worry about it. Then again we are gen. zero, we have no debt, own our cars, house, no kids ,etc.

[wgraves]

I usually pay a bit early just to "check it off the list" of things to do before vacation. The final few weeks before the trip are always busy enough.

[NancyIL]

[quote name='AFS1970']I don't remember if I payed my first cruise off early but I probably did by a month or so. For #2, I probably will, but only because the money is already in a savings account that will pay for it. That's why we decided to go on a cruise.

That being said, it will not get paid in a lump sum, for two reasons. Yes, I do not like the idea of giving a cruise line (or anyone else) an interest free loan, [b]but more so so that I can continue to establish a payment history, to help lower my credit score, which my banker tells me will help with eventually refinancing my mortgage[/b].[/QUOTE]

I don't think paying for cruises, whether in a lump sum or over time, does anything to help your credit score.

**By the way, you want to RAISE your credit score (FICO) - not lower it.

[cruisinck]

We never pay in full until within a week of the final payment date. I usually have my excursions paid for before my final payment is due. We usually have 2 - 3 cruise booked at the same time for the next year or so and make payments a little at a time. I am not loosing out on anything so don't see the reason to but I think it depends on everyone's comfort level.

[MrsPete]

I paid off our recent cruise early. Why? Because my Discover card offers a 5% rebate on SOMETHING every month -- this month, it's grocery stores and drug stores, last month it was gas stations. One month it was travel-related expenses, so I paid off the cruise early and got a 5% rebate for the cost of my cruise.

Normally I would've used my RCCI Visa and garnered OBC, but instead I got more money for Discover, which I turned into restaurant cards (for meals on the road) and Discover gift cards (which we used on the islands).

We had a price drop shortly after I paid off the cruise (had to happen, didn't it?), so the difference was given to me as OBC. I was fine with that.

It goes without saying that I had the money to pay off the cred card bill when it arrived; if I hadn't, that 5% would have been false savings. The Discover rebate was more valuable than the piddly amount I'd have earned keeping my money in a savings account; thus, it was the right choice for THIS TRIP. Will it happen this way again? I don't know. I don't think you can make a whole lot of blanket statement about the right way to manage finances. Too many variables.

[nancronin]

For the first time we are paying our cruise off early - since we usually cruise the end of February or the first week in March, our final payment is always due around Christmas. We also have 2 weeks of time share and the maintenance/taxes are due the first week in January. So December turns into a very expensive month.

So, this year I started paying $250 a month to RC and just got a nice price drop of over $500 so I'll leave the last $700 due for another 2 months hoping we get another price drop and finish off most of my balance. :D

[NancyIL]

[quote name='MrsPete']I paid off our recent cruise early. Why? Because my Discover card offers a 5% rebate on SOMETHING every month -- this month, it's grocery stores and drug stores, last month it was gas stations. One month it was travel-related expenses, so I paid off the cruise early and got a 5% rebate for the cost of my cruise.

[/QUOTE]I just checked Discover's site, and the extra 5% cash back bonus at grocery stores and drug stores is for September only. The cash back bonus for July-September is for charges at gas stations, hotels, movies, and theme parks: [url]http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/rewards/get-more-calendar.html?hcmpgn=0801_hpk_lhn_5cb_2_txt[/url]

I charged the final payment for a cruise to Discover in March because of the extra cash back bonus, but that's also when the final payment was due.

[ewpsrp]

We paid our cruise off early with money I received from a bonus at work. I just wanted it paid and knew once paid I was golden. We also had to cancel a cruise a year ago because one of our dogs got hurt and we didn't have the money to help the dog and go on a cruise so we opted to postpone the cruise. I called RCI and they credited back my money almost immediately. I think it was showing in my account in a day or so. Now we will be cruising in September and can't wait and our dog is doing great. It all worked out. :)

[texancruzer]

[quote name='Caliterp07']
And yes, you are eligible for price drops up until the final payment date, not when you pay it.[/quote]

I have received price drop refunds/credits even AFTER final payment.

Balance reduced = prior to final payment

Refunds = twice

OBC = once

And some cruises...... :( no price drop !

[marci22]

[quote name='MrsPete']I paid off our recent cruise early. Why? Because my Discover card offers a 5% rebate on SOMETHING every month -- ...One month it was travel-related expenses, so I paid off the cruise early and got a 5% rebate for the cost of my cruise.
[/quote]

They 5% cash back is usually limited to a certain amount, say $800 worth of purchases, so the max you can get that way is $40. (I did it last year too, I think it was around Jan-Feb)

[MrsPete]

[quote name='NancyIL']I just checked Discover's site, and the extra 5% cash back bonus at grocery stores and drug stores is for September only. The cash back bonus for July-September is for charges at gas stations, hotels, movies, and theme parks: [URL]http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/rewards/get-more-calendar.html?hcmpgn=0801_hpk_lhn_5cb_2_txt[/URL]

I charged the final payment for a cruise to Discover in March because of the extra cash back bonus, but that's also when the final payment was due.[/quote]Hmmm . . . that's not identical to my options -- perhaps they have different choices available to different customers? They do have different levels of cards, etc. I said [I]September[/I], but I meant [I]August.[/I] For August ONLY, my card gives the extra rebate on ONLY grocery stores and drug stores. My extra rebate on gas ended July 31.

Anyway, it was about a year ago that they offered 5% on travel, and that's when I paid off my cruise. The larger point is that by doing it early I was able to take advantage of a good deal. It was better for me than waiting for the actual due date and missing out on that extra 3%.

[MrsPete]

[quote name='marci22']They 5% cash back is usually limited to a certain amount, say $800 worth of purchases, so the max you can get that way is $40. (I did it last year too, I think it was around Jan-Feb)[/quote]Nope, I just checked the website, and mine's different.

Discover cards aren't all equal. They have different "levels", and I'm inclined to believe that their rebate programs aren't offered equally to everyone. I don't remember details, but they had a [I]really good program[/I] back last winter for which I didn't qualify; if memory serves, it was aimmed at people who don't use their cards often, whereas Discover is my go-to card.